New rules stronger than those recommended by CDC

Staff report

COLUMBUS

The Ohio Department of Health has strengthened its protocols for managing travelers returning from West African nations that have Ebola outbreaks.

The new protocols are stronger than those recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention while still being respectful of travelers and informed by the latest medical considerations for risk and exposure, ODH officials said.

Returning travelers who had no exposure to a potentially infected person are to:

Undergo daily health checks by a public health official for the 21 days of the Ebola incubation period.

Record any trips outside their homes.

Avoid public places.

Remain within their health district unless they can make arrangements for public health officials in the district to which they are traveling to assume their daily monitoring.

Remain within the United States.

The new guidelines are not expected to affect many residents — the state estimates that the number of travelers returning to Ohio from West Africa averages about two per day. About 30 people in five counties are being monitored now.

“Our goal is to keep Ohioans safe, period — both those who travel to West Africa and those who don’t,” Richard Hodges, director of the Ohio Department of Health, said in a statement. “We’re considering a lot of different needs with these new protocols, landing on the side of protecting Ohioans’ health while still working hard to respect the rights of travelers. We don’t want to build counterproductive barriers to those who have a desire to volunteer for medical relief efforts. We believe these new protocols are the right approach — strong, common sense, and informed by science — but we’re also continuing to monitor the situation to keep our protocols in the right place to protect Ohioans.”

Returning travelers who did have exposure to a potentially infected person are to:

Be quarantined at home with daily health checks by a public health official for 21 days.

May possibly be allowed trips outside their homes away from public places if public health officials determine they are at a low risk.

If public health officials have any doubt about a traveler’s history or exposure, they should always default to a stronger, safer protocol level.

The state health department will work with local health departments to implement the new monitoring and quarantine protocols, and also meet whatever needs arise from those people who might be placed under a 21-day quarantine.

To help protect the privacy of individuals under quarantine or monitoring, ODH and local health departments do not release their names or other information that could potentially lead to their identification, officials said.